Blue Hour
by LolliliciousLolly
Summary: Alternate ending to Breaking Dawn. ACTUAL Volturi conflict, J/L pairing, awesome Emmett, NO RENESTARD, different circumstances of Bella's vamping...
1. Prologue

**Prologue.**

_Bella_.

I had fallen unconscious many times before now. When you barely survived each day tripping over your own feet, knocking things over and also dating a vampire who had several murderous enemies that wanted you unconscious in a more permanent way, you tend to grow accustomed to that feeling of fading into oblivion.

It's the waking up part that I couldn't learn to get used to. Each time was hell.

As soon as recognition entered my mind that I was indeed awake, I jerked to an upright position. The blackness was impenetrable, like a secret whose answers danced on the corner of my awareness. My head was pounding terribly - I allowed my fingers to stray to the base of my scalp, at which point an awful sickness flooded my stomach. I was bleeding. Not much, but enough to...tease whoever had brought me to this dark, cold place.

I had my suspicions.

My knees were shaky with disuse as I climbed to my feet.

"H-hello?" I called out. Damn my human eyes - had Edward just agreed to change me when we'd arranged, I would have been able to see with perfect clarity now. Instead, I was blind in a world where my predator was not.

Or judging from the several snickers that haunted my ears at that moment... predators. As in, the plural.

Their presence made things easier and harder. I felt relief, because at least I knew my fate was sealed. That kind of certainty was comforting in a strange, masochistic sort of way.

On the other hand, I felt terror.

Because I was never going to see Edward again.

--

_Lolly: So, I thought I'd start off with a typical "Bella's gonna die" prologue which we know and love (and hate.) However, next chapter continues from this point rather than going back to the beginning. _

_I also want to mention that I haven't read Twilight fanfiction. All I've seen is some sillybella, and something called Cullenary Education. So yeah, if I appear to have ripped ideas from people, don't accuse me because I haven't read it. I'm a Mediator fangirl - Twilight is sooooo not my thing except for on youtube. _

_Hope you continue..._


	2. Mockery

_Edward._

"Edward, contain yourself," Alice hissed. "He expects you to react with violence - you need a different tactic."

The look I shot in her direction was utterly uncalled for, yet I could not restrain it. How dare she lecture me at this moment? Would her actions have been entirely rational, had they stolen Jasper from her in the dead of night?

Sensing that my thoughts had strayed to this area, she replied, "I know I am being hypocritical. But trust me - we won't get her back if you don't behave."

My hands balled into fists of such tension that my skin, had it not been as hard and impermeable as it was, would have split cleanly over my knuckles. We stood in the impressively grand hall, awaiting the return of Jane.

With a high, musical giggle, she was upon us once more. She enjoyed my fear; thrived off of my pain.

"Aro has said that he will see you," she simpered at me. "He is most intrigued as to what has brought you here..."

I growled, and Alice squeezed my arm.

_Stop it!_ she thought loudly.

We followed her. As vampires, we could have walked so much faster than this unsatisfying human pace. But Jane was content to take her time and prolong this agony. I heard her singing sweetly to herself in low, crisp Italian. She turned her head slightly, caught my shaking, furious form in her peripheral, and giggled again.

Alice closed her eyes sadly. She hated how they insulted me.

This mockery had only just begun.

The hall was long and winding. When we finally reached the door, Jane cleared her throat loudly, and Demetri and Felix descended on us. They grinned widely at each other, and then turned to me. "Well, this is a surprise," Demetri cocked his head to the left, relishing the joke.

"Yes," Felix agreed. "Such a long way to come..."

Jane turned and looked up at me curiously. She was silent, but her demon-like eyes spoke of obvious secrets, of sadistic denials, of shrill giggles.

"Aro will see you now," she said. The guard opened the doors with a gentle push.

And not even Alice was prepared for what lay before us. She gasped in fury, her golden eyes sliding to mine. "How dare they?"

Upon three thrones sat Caius, Marcus and Aro. They stared down at us; Caius with detestation; Marcus with boredom, and Aro with a wide, welcoming smile that barely veiled his arrogance. Beyond the Volturi leaders sat the entire guard and the wives - and on either side of this arena, hundreds and hundreds of vampires stood as spectators, their crimson eyes locked on me and Alice in intrigue. I could barely contain the hiss of rage that ripped from my throat, but Alice overrode it with a polite, "Hello, Aro."

My own eyes felt misty and clouded with the absolute, undiluted hatred I felt for him. If anything, my emotions made his smile grow more crooked. He stood up graciously, spreading his arms open. "What a glorious day!" He turned to his guard. "For Alice and Edward Cullen have come to visit our humble coven. To what do we owe this unexpected honour?"

"Oh, you know," I glowered, "Just in the neighbourhood."

Alice elbowed me.

_Don't mock him_, she warned me mentally. _He has the power here. Behave, Edward._

The guard tittered gently behind him, sickly fascinated by their intruders. Alice cleared her throat and went to speak once more, but I stepped in front of her and looked Aro straight in the eye. "You know why we have come."

He blinked, in perfectly practiced innocence. "What ever do you mean?"

Alice hissed, and I shook my head. She would only amuse him by playing his mind games. There was no way I would give him that satisfaction.

_Edward_! she snapped. _You're killing her!_

Caius stood up suddenly, his face contorted in anger. "Do you dare speak to the Volturi in accusation?" He was less familiar with Aro's flawless art of manipulation. His brother sighed, and smiled back to me. "Forgive Caius," he purred. "He is easily frustrated by that which he does not know. For I do indeed know why you are here, dear boy. I have known for a long time that you would be coming..."

I bristled. "How long has this been planned?" I spat, but he waved a dismissive hand at me, and continued to speak.

Instead of talking to me and Alice, he turned to address the vampiric citizens who had been called to witness. "My friends, I was not wrong when I said this was a glorious day. I have long awaited the arrival of the Cullens to join our family, and it appears that they have finally accepted our invitation."

Alice froze. We had expected them to ask... but not to announce it like this, as if it had already been decided.

Then I realised that I was a fool. Of course it had already been decided. Aro had made up his mind a year ago, when he'd first realised my love for Bella Swan.

She was my soul. And she had been sold.

_Oh no..._ Alice whimpered. I ground my teeth, the hatred flowing with more force through my body. Oh, the ways I would kill him...

An almighty applause broke among the citizens. Aro smiled warmly at them, before looking back at us. "Ah, yes. It is wonderful news indeed, is it not? Caius? Marcus?"

Marcus grunted, and Caius shot his brother a look of comprehension. Then he turned and sneered at me.

Before the applause could die entirely, I had already moved in an eye's blink up to Aro's throne, pinning him there by his neck. Caius roared at the guard, but Aro barked for them to remain where they were. And then, he pried my fingers from his throat and pushed me back. I did not understand how I could have let this kind of submission happen... at least, until I looked up and saw Jane and Alec simpering at me, hand in hand. Their powers were not forceful, but were enough to give their master the upperhand. My body prickled from the pain of Jane's brunt, but was numbed by the apathy brought about by her twin brother.

"And to think," Aro whispered, "You were so determined not to let me in... how easily broken your resolve is, Edward..."

I winced as I watched all my memories flickering through his mind. He smiled pleasantly, watching my hands slide down Bella's waist as she entreated me, kissing my throat. His eyebrows rose as my fingers roamed up her back, pressing into her skin with calculated caution so as not to bruise her, but just enough to make her sigh as I slid off her shirt...

"Forever?" my own voice asked her.

"Forever," the Bella of my memory agreed.

"Get out!" I spat

Alice moaned. _Edward, no!_

I was shaking. Jane and Alec had not relinquished their hold on me, and the agony of helplessness left me weary with horror. Caius glared at his brother in curiosity, eternally irritated that Aro's power far bested his own. I sank to my knees as Aro continued to press his hand to my face almost intimately, drawing out my every memory of Bella.

He continued to probe around the corners of my mind, snatching secrets that did not belong to him. He chuckled at my most private moments; breathed in bloodlust at my reactions to Bella...

I twisted against his hand, my will broken by the twins in my quest to regain my strength. Behind me, Alice was trying desperately to not think, as every thought that passed through her mind would belong to Aro.

And finally, when he seemed satisfied, he shoved me back delicately. With a nod to Jane and Alec, I was allowed to crawl to my feet. Vampires were not used to feeling so weak, so...human. I utterly loathed it.

The smile lessened on his face. "It would seem," he said crisply, "That Bella Swan is still human. I thought we had a deal that, when we next checked in on her, she would have been turned. Is this correct, Edward?"

"The date was set!" I protested, "You know that - "

"Aro, my vision!" Alice was shouting behind me.

But he ignored us both. He already knew the truth - but he didn't want anyone else to.

"And you have failed to hold your end of our bargain," he shrugged. "It would seem that my weakness was to be too trusting of you and your family... I won't make that mistake again, will I? This betrayal will not go unpunished, Edward and Alice Cullen..."

Alice was by my side, once again holding me back with the very last of her strength. My eyes saw flashes of red. I could not tell if it was blood, or if my eyes had truly changed colour in my thirst to destroy him - to destroy them all.

"Ah, you will kill them?" Caius demanded, eagerness flashing across his face.

Aro's eyes fluttered closed in irritation. He seemed to not enjoy his brother's inability to realise his motives. With great patience, he smiled at Caius, and then at the guard. "Why, naturally," he tossed his head... and then paused. "But...I wonder..."

I roared in fury, seeing the direction of his thoughts.

"Yes?" Marcus drawled, slackening in his chair dully. "Do hasten, brother."

Aro made a production of trying to debate something in his mind when in actuality, the decision had been already made. "Well... it does seem a waste to rid our coven of these highly gifted, controlled vampires..." he tilted his head towards us. "And I am a generous man. Perhaps just a little retribution is in order..."

"You'll let them live?" Caius spat. "Why? They have offended us for too long, Aro!"

With an uncharacteristically fast movement, Aro suddenly was gripping his brother by the shoulders. He leant in to kiss Caius on each cheek, but I heard the thought pass between them, even though his whisper was so low that none of the guard or the citizens could catch his words.

_They are too valuable to dispose of. I must collect them. Do not fear... they will be dealt with. Now please, be quiet!_

And then, Alice half-screamed. Her hands froze on my arm and our eyes locked in horror.

The images she saw flashed through out minds... dark, rapid scenes of a terrified human running through underground tunnels, her breath short and her feet pounding in time with a racing heart that intrigued those who followed her. I counted eight - no, nine - in pursuit of her. She was wounded, and that was making their control harder...

Aro, noting that the penny must have indeed dropped, nodded to Demetri and Felix, who disappeared out the door behind the three thrones.

He then turned to the guard.

"My friends," his voice was thick with smug pleasure, "I know how deeply thirsty you all are... it's about time you had a snack."

"No!" Alice yelled, her usually melodic voice breaking with pain. She supported me as best as she could, but I'd sagged under the weight of my lover's impending death. She didn't have much time...

But the guard had already moved swiftly out of the room, grinning at the game which they were about to play. Typically, they just lured humans and fed on them without much of a production. This... this would be fun for them. They had their orders – torment the girl as much as they could, using the full breadth of their special abilities. Aro's only rule was that it was not quick.

Then, the images flashing through Alice's frantic mind just...faded.

"What?" I said hotly. "What happened?"

She turned to me, her face blank with abject horror. "I...I don't see her anymore, Edward. As far as my sight is concerned... she no longer has a future to foresee."


	3. Exquisite

_Bella._

My pounding heart was a dead giveaway for my position. I was tempted to rip it out myself and deny that pleasure of those dancing on the edges of my vision. The underground tunnels were, if possible, growing colder the deeper I travelled. I had to find a way out of here. The candle that was my love for Edward was burning dimly in my heart, urging me to keep going. I was desperate to defy the inevitable – to try and see him one last time...

The soles of my shoes were wearing thin from the rocky terrain beneath. Water tricked down the cold stone walls either side of me, and a low fog made everything beneath knee-height disappear in an ethereal mist, only disturbed by my cautious movements.

And then behind me...I heard a light footfall.

Spinning around, my eyes urgently drank in the eternal blackness that I'd left behind. I could see nothing except the immediate outline of rocks a few feet beyond. I was being followed. They knew that I knew it. They were counting on it.

And then, a cold, dead voice floated with terrifying beauty through the chill.

"How enchanting your body will be," it said, "lying limp in my arms... cold, pale and smeared with that sweet, sweet blood."  
"Like out of a fairytale," another voice agreed, child-like and musical.

I started backing away, my lips icy cold from my freezing breath

There was a laugh of deepest mirth. "The fairytales would never welcome _our_ kind into their story..."

"And with good reason."

"We have no talent for putting dear children to sleep, you see."

"At least not a sleep that they will wake up from," agreed the other.

Before I could take off in a run that would prove utterly useless, I tripped over a rock and landed in a mess over the earthy ground. A loud, fraught hiss cut through the easy taunts, and I knew by that noise before I saw the proof, that I'd cut myself again. A white blur launched at me, only impeded by a second white figure – the sound of which was like two boulders slamming together.

"No!" the smaller shape shrilled. "You mustn't, Felix!"

He whimpered in thirst. "I did not count on her spilling blood so soon... It makes my head spin, Jane."

She scoffed at him. "Control yourself. Will you be beaten so easily?"

With a loud, swallowing sound, Felix apologised, and Jane sneered. I was trying to crawl away as silently as I could while they were distracted, but Jane's high pitched giggle made my body lock again.

"Run, run..." she advised. "But don't run too far – be back before supper."

I dove to my feet and took off. The dark rocks whirled past me, and I grazed my elbows on them on more than one occasion, ripping my jacket in several places. Alice was going to be so disappointed that I kept destroying her presents.

Laughs I did not recognise sounded as I found myself in a large, low-roofed area that split off into four directions. My head whipped from side to side as I tried to decide which path to take. Would one get me out of here?

Behind me, taunting calls drifted slowly through the air. My fear made the atmosphere thick and suffocating.

I could hardly keep count of the amount of times I'd faced death since moving to Forks. It seemed inconceivable, how often I happened to attract danger like this. Yet here I was, in some underground part of Italy, running for a life that was long lost. My death had already been written – I was just going the motions that had been scripted in order for the big finish.

All I could hope for now was that Edward would be safe... I knew it was ridiculous. If he was anything like I knew, my death would make him furious beyond all fury's previous capability. But I had to pray that somehow, he'd survive it, even if I wouldn't have been able to. He always had been stronger than me though. It made me want to be a stronger person. That was the only reason I kept running – at least I could die, knowing that I'd tried to hold on to my life... I could not curl up and hide like a coward.

This mental decision was certainly put to the test when I felt a violent weight thrash into my back, pitching me forward into the rocky wall before me. Pain exploded all down my shoulder and then secondly in my right leg as I fell down on it awkwardly. My bloodstained fingers scrambled to grip some rocks so I could right myself.

From the three other possible tunnels, vampires began emerging from the darkness. They leered at me, their faces tilted in curiosity. Jane stood before them, looking mighty put out. She seemed to be concentrating very hard on me, but got frustrated again and pouted at her twin brother.

"She still doesn't react," she scowled with bitterness.

"Hah," was all I said. Stupid as it was to goad them, it made me feel like I still had some power. I pressed back against the rocks, panting. She'd tried to cause me pain again. At least the weird immunity my brain seemed to have still held – a small mercy that I had to focus on if I was going to maintain any sense of victory throughout what was about to ensue.

Alec comforted her. "My gift does not work on her either, sister."

A tall, raven-haired vampire crept forward, inhaling the air deeply. "Such a scent..." he commented. "Such warm blood..."

The presence of this member of the guard seemed to make Jane brighten. Her pout turned into an ominous smile as she turned back to me. "Ah, Nathaniel," she purred. "Introduce yourself to Bella. And please - make an impression."

The vampire edged closer to me, and I retreated even farther back, my jacket unable to cushion the skin of my back from the jagged rocks anymore. I glared at him hatefully. His crimson eyes were sunken and sharp, but his flesh was pearly and new – he was definitely not as old as his fellows. He knelt before me, his head cocked to the left.

"Aro was kind to give us such a pretty little pet," he said in what he thought must have been kindness – but it came out just as lascivious as ever. As he raised a long, bony finger to my face, I jerked away – only soon his hand was suddenly gripping my chin, making me look at him. I wanted to show any kind of defiance... spitting at him crossed my mind, or insulting his mother. However, he didn't give me the chance, for he started speaking again.

"All that running..." he drawled. "It seems you're quite feverish. It's not healthy for humans to be so hot...perhaps I can help?"

And then... an icy plague began seeping from his hand into my body. I arched in pain, gasping beneath his grip as it permeated my skin, froze my limbs and contorted my veins into unnatural twists. The coldness spread, reaching my feet and circling around my chest.

"Not so resistant now, are we Bella?" Jane derided, her arms crossed smugly.

My muscles screamed in protest as they hardened beneath the vampire's touch. It was so agonisingly slow.

His other hand slid around my wrist. Lifting my arm up, he smiled at me and dangled my flaccid, numbed fingers over his mouth, letting a drop of blood from the wound on my hand descend onto his awaiting tongue. There was the tiniest sizzle, and he sighed in luxury.

"Exquisite..." he moaned.

Through half-closed eyes, I saw Felix and Demetri twitch in discomfort. They obviously did not appreciate having to watch another devour blood they'd been reprimanded for showing weakness toward earlier.

My skin was prickling horribly from the icy wave of his power. It was getting a little more difficult to see past him; my vision was being uncooperative. I parted my lips to say something cutting, but no such wit swarmed into my mind. Instead, I just closed my eyes. It was almost peaceful, to be so coldly numb... I imagined I was in Edward's arms, that we were far away from here. He was whispering spontaneous, soft lyrics in my ear as I drifted off to sleep...

"Pull back a little, Nathaniel!" Jane warned. "We still want her to be able to feel pain, after all."

Demetri scowled. "Pathetic human."

I was jerked out of the anaesthetic stage, back into the part where I teetered dangerously over the edge of insanity from the biting cold. I writhed beneath him, and Jane laughed. "There we go..._now_ our fun can begin."

That was when my sharpening senses detected something I would not have expected in a million years.

...A howl of an animal.

My eyes snapped open again as I flirted with the notion of insanity again. Had I gone mad? Was I imagining a saviour?

If so, why...why _this_ saviour?

But I certainly wasn't imagining the way the vampires were parted viciously down the middle by two monstrous dogs, barking in utmost rage. Nathaniel in particular was caught in an unruly snap of enormous fangs and was pulled cleanly away from me. I did not care to watch as two dogs tore him in half...

"No!" screeched Jane. I couldn't tell if she was angrier at the interruption, or at the thought of not subjecting me to the torture she seemed to enjoy so much. Either way, the single word that was wrenched from her throat was drawn out into many syllables, each more furious than the last. She stamped her foot, and cracks snaked across the ground from the force.

Demetri and Felix flanked her, growling murderously at the two wolves that were already ripping Nathaniel apart into smaller pieces. His head was still intact, swearing in violent Italian until the smaller wolf launched his open jaw at the vampire's eyes, silencing him completely. The larger wolf turned to me abruptly, and whined at his friend. With a brisk nod, the little one slid beneath my fairly weak form. He grunted, in what I could only interpret as, _Hold on._

Oh, I did.

We were off, racing down one of the tunnels at a speed that rivalled the vampires who pursued us madly. I gripped his neck harder, screaming as we almost collided with a flat wall of rock that appeared to be a dead end. The werewolf, however, just growled, retreated a few paces, and then sprung himself upward, running with such brute force that we were travelling vertically. He lost momentum just in time for us to reach the horizontal again. We could hear the dreadful sound of vampires clawing up the rocks behind us. My hand was bleeding profusely, staining his fur a dark red colour. I'd apologise for that later, if we lived through this...

But I had other things on my mind.

"No..." I wheezed. "Seth, what about Jacob? We can't just leave him there. We have to go b-"

He tossed out a snort of irritation. While I knew that my proposal had been ridiculous - for us _both_ to go back - I could tell he wanted to. He hadn't liked whatever orders he'd received from Jacob any better than I did.

A snarl from behind us sent him running into overdrive. I buried my face against his soft fur, my interlocked arms aching from the strain.

Only one vampire was following us.

That meant...the rest had stayed behind to deal with the intruder.

"Seth!"

This time I screamed, yanking on his fur. "There's got to be _at least thirteen vampires_ back there! He's going to get killed, probably more than once!"

He whined beneath me, indicating he was plainly aware of this. My heart, if possible, slammed against my ribcage even harder.

_Jacob...what have you done?_


	4. Quite the Prize

_Edward:_

For the second time within the hour, I launched myself in Aro's direction. This time, three of the citizens appeared before me, their fists catching my stomach. They continued to beat me down until Aro clapped his hands.

"Now, now..." he bared his teeth in a smile. "Play nicely, Edward. This is just a game, after all... I simply decided that if you were so intent on breaking our rules, then we had earned that same right also." He inclined his head at me. "Oh, I do wish I could be down there to watch... What fun."

Alice's growls were growing steadily less contained. She was far more restricted than I was, but even her despair was beginning to shine through. I could feel Bella dying. My cold, still heart was poised to shatter, at which point I would beg Aro for death and pray he would extend some mercy. If not, I'd provoke Caius, and let his temper have its way with my worthless life.

Aro approached me. I didn't dare look at him.

"It doesn't have to be this way..." he said softly, his dark robe swirling around his ancient feet.

"Wait," I said quickly, "What? You...you will call off the hunt?" My gaze reached his, gluttonous for his response.

His papery face looked pained. "Well...Bella Swan does seem to be the only thing binding you to your old life with the Olympic coven," he said with what he must have believed was reason.

Alice snarled behind me. She knew as well as I did that this was not true - we would have never betrayed Carlisle.

"But... as you know, Edward, I am... _particularly_ fond of you." His voice had become breathy with craving for my addition to his family. "I may...make an exception in this case. Join us here in Volterra, dear boy, and I will think about sparing her life."

My throat closed up. I turned and looked at Alice.

_Don't, Edward..._ she said warningly_. He will trick you_.

Clearing his throat, Aro added, "This offer is extended to your sister also, naturally."

This roughly translated to, _Both of you, or not at all_.

He wanted Alice just as badly.

While I would never presume that she loved Bella any less than I, that didn't mean I would dream of tearing her away from Jasper.

I...I was almost sure I wouldn't dream of it...

The thought was tempting, though. Let Bella live, while Alice and I stayed here... We'd be together. We'd find a way to escape. Even if only she got out. I would stay here in subservience, content that Bella's cheeks still flushed with colour.

I truly was a selfish monster. There would be no redemption for me; no pain too appropriate.

Alice's eyes were torn. Even her thoughts had frozen. She looked between Aro and me with great on her pretty face.

_Edward, I..._ she thought unsurely, biting her lip. Jasper's face danced miserably in her mind's eye. Then, she straightened up. _It's all right. If it saves Bella...then we have to._

She was so beautiful, so selfless. I couldn't stand it. I saw her pain, and it meant so little to me in light of my own. I was a disgrace to the humanity I had once possessed. Disgusted with myself, I forced my feet to move so I stook before her, sliding my arms around her tiny form.

And in her ear, I hissed soft, quick words.

"Run," I said. "I will stay to distract while you leave. Hide with Carlisle as I continue to try and negotiate Bella's life. Hopefully I will be enough. If...if she's still alive and a deal is made, I shall deliver her to you. Take her back to Forks, and tell her to move on. Tell her I'm dead, if you have to. Tell her... Jacob still loves her. Maybe it will help."

Her arms returned my embrace tightly. Her mind squealed objections, but I shook my head against her temple.

"Tell Esme I love her," I went on. "And tell Carlisle I'm sorry."

_I'll stay!_ she promised. _Edward, I'll stay with you!_

I released her, pushing her away slightly.

Aro, bothered that he couldn't hear our whispers, tapped his foot impatiently on the marble floor. He was trying to study our body language, to see if it was of defeat or defiance. I organised my emotions so I appeared only resigned and miserable. Alice could not get the shock off of her face. But finally, she nodded once at me - and then she was gone.

Outrage lit Aro's face. "Stop her!" he roared, but the citizens had nothing on the Volturi guard, who were otherwise engaged. They could not match Alice's speed, or her ability of evasion. She danced beneath their fingertips with grace, disappearing out the door. Several citizens streaked after her in confusion, but the rest just looked back to Aro guiltily.

Marcus rolled his eyes and snorted something to Caius, who was glaring at me.

Aro's pleasant, mocking demeanour was beginning to wither. I stood tall, my hands behind my back and my feet set evenly apart as I stared back at him.

"What a shame," I commented. "It seems only one of us can stand the thought of having to see you every day for the next millennium, Aro."

Anger flashed across his face, but before he could let it manifest, he forced a smile. "Ah, your good humour will be welcome here," he said in feigned warmness. "Quite the prize, Edward."

"Do we have a deal, then?" I narrowed my eyes at him.

With a harder face than I had remembered seeing before, he stared at me. I heard his thoughts racing through his mind, his disappointment that I'd sent Alice away, but his desperation to collect at least one of us through his whole plan of his. That was something I'd noticed - he'd kept his plan flexible throughout the night, so he wouldn't become too predictable. Now, he seemed content on just keeping me.

"Why, I rather believe we do," he smiled, looking grandly out at the citizens. On cue, they clapped politely. None of them thought of me very favourably, but Aro's opinion of me was all that mattered.

"Then...welcome to the family, my friend!" Aro beamed at me, victory singing through his mind.

He came to kiss me on each cheek, but I pointedly took a step back.

"Bella," I ordered. "No deal is in place until I see she is alive."

Uncertainty flickered across his face. He seemed to quickly forget her supreme importance not only to my mind, but my heart. Having only an intense mateship with his wife, Sulpicia, he didn't understand the human nature of the love I felt for Bella. Vampiric love was all about proximity and vengeance. The love I had for Bella was...moving the world for her to make her smile.

So it stood to reason that I'd move a lot more than the world to keep her alive.

Unfortunately, nothing could have saved my heart from his next thought.

_Oh, dear. Perhaps my orders should have been a little less...irreversible._

"...What?" I snarled.

Alice's lack of vision... Bella's future disappearing... surely it hadn't already...

...No.

"Let me just confer with Jane," he said lightly, disappearing through the back entrance with a swirl of regal robes that stank of undeserved royalty.


	5. The Clearwaters

_Bella._

"Why did you have to cut yourself?" Seth grumbled irritably, wrapping a torn piece of his shirt firmly around my hand.

I made a face. "I didn't do it on purpose."

"They can smell it," he replied. "You're very easily tracked even when you're not bleeding, Bella. Edward says so all the time - "

He saw my face when he mentioned the name, and stopped.

"You're gonna see him again," he promised. "That's why we all flew over here for - to save you. It's going to be okay."

"All?" I stared at him, curling into an even tighter ball against the little hole in the rocks where we were hiding. Everything was utterly silent. We were lost, but at least we weren't being followed anymore. Something had changed.

He gave me a nervous look. "Well, all the Cullens came," he muttered. "Not all of...of us."

"It's okay, Seth," I smiled sadly. "You're an idiot for flying all the way to Italy and freaking your mom and Leah out, but I really appreciate - "

"Leah's here too," he interjected.

My eyebrows rose. "Um...why? Last I heard, she wasn't exactly my biggest fan."

Seth looked worried again. I usually saw that expression on Jacob's face when I used private pack details; like he was trying to find some backward, rearranged way of telling me without giving me the whole truth.

"She didn't come for you," he admitted finally.

Again, I assured him that it was completely fine to not know the pack's every secret. Looking guilty but relieved, he nodded.

We were both pointedly avoiding the elephant in the room, but at last, Seth couldn't seem to take it anymore.

"I'm scared for Jake," he whispered, his young face pulled down with sadness. "I wish I had have resisted his orders... I wanted to stay and fight. But I'm glad you're safe, at least," he shrugged, dragging his tendon-lined hand through his long hair.

I slid my hand in his. I couldn't offer any words of comfort, because in truth, I was as scared as he was.

"At least he had Leah with him," he added.

"Huh?"

I lifted my gaze back to his. "I thought there were only the two of you."

He shook his head. "No, three. Leah got lost and lagged behind, but all three of us decided that the Cullens and their instructions could get screwed, so we followed Edward and Alice to help - "

"_What_?" I yelped. My voice carried down the stretching tunnel, and Seth clapped his hand over my mouth with a fierce, "Shhhh!"

I glared at him from beneath his hand. He removed it warily, as if ready to return it should I make another peep. "Sorry, I wasn't supposed to tell you. Edward and Alice went to try and negotiate with the Volturi."

My fingers slid to my lips as I moaned. "Oh, no..."

"What?" Seth wanted to know. "No one would tell me anything. Carlisle mentioned something about an arrow..."

"He's a vampire," I said.

"Carlisle? I kind of noticed - "

"No, not him. Aro. He's one of the three Volturi leaders," I explained, scenarios playing in rapid fire through my mind. I remembered how Jane had reduced Edward to a cowering, gasping, writhing thing as he tried not to yell from the illusion of pain she caused...

"Oh, right," Seth replied, not really comprehending the gravity of the situation. He looked down the tunnel again, checking we didn't have any more unwanted visitors.

I needed to sort this out... "I think he brought me here for a reason. I think...he was trying to draw Edward here. But not to kill him. I was just the lure... Aro is the hook. He wants something."

Then I remembered last year, how he'd been so fascinated with Edward's and Alice's abilities - and to an extent, mine, should I eventually become a vampire. "He...wants them to become apart of the Volturi," I concluded. "Edward said he'd never do that. Oh God, I hope he doesn't do anything stupid just because I'm in trouble again."

"I think you're a little more than in trouble," Seth argued. "You have a pack of royal pains in the vampass after you, Bella. I'd go as far as to say you're up the proverbial creek without a proverbial paddle - a creek that's full of acid, and a boat that's full of holes."

I scowled. "What happened to that trademark Seth-Clearwater-optimism?"

He looked sullen. "I lost it when I lost track of Jacob and Leah."

That shut me up.

"How long do we wait here?" I asked gently. "I want them to be okay as much as you do, Seth. You need to know that. I'm sorry again that I cut my hand, but it's okay now - you can phase back and try to hear them."

Without looking at me, he nodded. "Sorry I'm being unfriendly," he sighed. "I'm so worried... it killed me to leave them behind. Leah was supposed to come with us. She...she managed to resist the Alpha order."

"Wow," I said in a low voice. I knew vaguely how important that apparently was. Only now, Seth thought he was weak for not being able to do the same, to help Jacob and his sister. With a final inspection of the tunnel, he shuddered and phased into his wolf form. I could hear him holding his breath, struggling to hear traces of them.

And after thirty seconds, he let out the most devastating moan I'd ever heard. The sound of it scared the life of me, but the impact of it broke my heart.

...Something terrible had happened.


	6. Obsession

_Edward._

Aro returned shortly, appearing disgruntled. His good humour was growing thin – I heard echoes of his thoughts, hoping that this would have been a lot easier than it was. He'd sent a messenger to fetch Jane, who appeared to be otherwise predisposed.

It took nearly fifteen minutes for the tiny demon to finally enter the grand hall, her face in a fiery contortion. She glowered at me before looking back to her master.

"Perhaps privacy would suit us best?" she advised.

"He will hear us any way," Aro replied apathetically. "Tell me, child. What has you so distressed? I trust the girl lives?"

She scowled, and I heard a dark thought rip through her mind. That's when I understood that she wasn't just distressed or angry.

She was murderous. Vengefully so.

He touched her cheek worriedly, closing his eyes. Her memories flickered through his mind's eye as he watched in perturbation. I saw Bella being hunted from shadows, being taunted. It made me boil. Then, they approached and started to hurt her in any way they could, given her immunity to their powers. Finally, just as they were to begin slowly biting her in order to prolong the pain of the venom, they were interrupted. This was what had blinded Alice's visions – the presence of werewolves.

_Damn it, Jacob!_ my mind groaned. However, I retracted my annoyed thought, realising he'd most definitely saved her life...

Three wolves fought the eighteen vampires, several of whom kept back. They had not been expecting to fight, and many of them were only on the guard for their powers, not their fighting skills. Demetri and Felix led the battle, but Jane was without a doubt the most vicious. Others were quickly destroyed as the smallest werewolf ran ahead with Bella. I sighed in relief.

Two vampires followed Bella, and the rest stayed to dance on the outskirts of the fight. Another half a dozen vampires fought alongside Demetri and Felix - until Jane's twin, Alec, met the salivating jaw of the largest wolf. Trapped in his teeth, the wolf's head thrashed about as Alec screamed like a frightened child, Jane shrieking in unison like a mourning lover. The second wolf leapt at Alec, seizing his legs. With a screech of metal, his limbs were torn away and Jane could not be contained. Unbridled, she sank her teeth deeply into the russet wolf's neck. He whined and shook her off as the smaller dog dragged Alec away, his remaining limbs flailing madly. More screeching metal was heard as she dismembered him completely. Short of being burned...he was very nearly destroyed. Effectively dead.

Demetri and Felix joined Jane, punishing the russet werewolf for his crime. Felix held him down as Jane continued to drink him with distaste, before spitting out his blood. She settled for snapping his legs, one by one. The wolf howled in misery.

The grey wolf catapulted back into the rocky room, her teeth catching Demetri's throat. The other vampires bolted, scared of the fate they'd witnessed Alec and another suffer...

At this point, Aro's lip flared.

"Cowards..." he said coldly.

Jane could not cry. She had no tears. But her thoughts, fragmented and wild, were like liquid fire. They melted her from within as her insides writhed in pain. Alec had been her world. I'd never known how devoted and obsessed she had been with her twin.

His absence made it clear.

"My poor dear..." Aro kissed her forehead. "I am sorry. Alec was one of my favourites..."

She gasped for breath, putting a disturbing spin on the image of a child who'd fallen off of a playset and was getting a band aid from an affectionate father. "Master," she whimpered, "Don't let them live!"

He shushed her. "What of the girl, though? Did you find her?"

Her eyes flashed up at him.

How dare you? she spat. My brother! You care about the girl, but not my brother?! Too emotional to go on, she yanked herself away, shaking. Caius, insulted by her insolence, marched over and slapped her face. "You were asked a question, Jane," he thundered, utterly intolerant of any defiance, even among the most beloved of the guard. She fell silent, looking down at her feet.

Marcus simply stared off into space. "Our family is smaller, Aro," he said lazily. "I hope your obsession has been worth it..."

Her thoughts snagged my attention, though.

_Mate for mate_, she promised, her fingers quivering in repressed rage.

I growled with ferocity. "You will not touch Bella!" I snarled at her. She turned and looked at me with the wide eyes of a child long dead. Her pain smothered me.

"My quarrel is not with you this time, Edward," she sneered. "You are not the centre of this earth, contrary to what you and Aro seem to think."

"Jane!" Caius bellowed at her.

Without another word, she left swiftly.


	7. Paralysis

_Bella._

"Jacob..." I breathed.

He was utterly still. A human Leah supported his head, sitting with her back unnaturally straight against the brick wall. Her fingers stroked his black hair. He was bleeding faster than he could heal. All she could say was, "Oh God, oh God, oh God..."

Seth was losing more and more of his shirt as he tried to bandage Jacob's wounds as he had done my hand. Jacob would not wake.

"Oh God, oh God..."

"Leah, shut up!" Seth snapped, tying the shirt tightly like a tourniquet. The girl looked at him as if she were seeing him for the first time in her life. Dazed confusion graced her tense features. A permanent line was carved between her brow, and tears made her eyes glitter in the darkness. I traced over the bite mark at his neck with a trembling finger.

"Venom doesn't affect you guys, right?" I checked.

Seth shook his head. "I don't think so," he muttered. "At least, not like it does to humans. It's more like...a temporarily paralysis, rather than the fiery pain that you've described. Like a bad beesting."

"He won't wake up..." Leah moaned wretchedly.

Seth grunted. "Would you snap out of it? You should be thankful he's knocked out! His arms and legs got broken. Now shut up, or I'll knock you out too."

I would have chastised him, but he had a point. She wasn't helping matters.

"He's in bad shape," I murmured. "We need to get him to Carlisle. Even then, I don't know how much that'll help..."

Leah's hand paused over Jacob's hair. And then, with enough venom to create her own newborn, she said, "I am not letting a vampire go anywhere _near_ him."

"Leah," I began, touching her shoulder gently, but she smacked my face with enough force to leave it throbbing. I restrained the yelp of pain, but only just.

"Look at what they did to him!" she attacked. "All for you, Bella! He did this for you! Are you happy? You've killed him!"

I wished she'd hit me again. There was nothing I could say to defend myself from that.

Seth frowned at her. "He's not dead yet, Lee. And unless you want to tempt fate, I'd stop talking like he was, if I were you."

Leah's mouth opened and closed, but no sound came out.

"Do we know how to get out?" I asked Seth as softly as I could, but Leah still heard, and couldn't seem to resist.

"No," she said caustically. "Jacob led us in here."

Seth sighed. "I can remember the way," he assured her, heaving Jacob up over his shoulder. Leah insisted on carrying him herself, tugging the almost seven feet of muscle into her outstretched arms. I followed them uselessly, barely able to see in the darkness. There was absolutely no light source to speak of. This didn't bother Seth, who fronted out crew.

"If he dies, Bella," Leah promised me in a low voice, "I'll do a lot more than never forgive you."

"I'm so sorry," was all I could say. She had every right to tell me these things.

Silence enveloped the party of four, lasting for well over twenty minutes. Seth appeared to be getting lost, and Jacob's pulse, thudding dully against my index finger - his wrist was the only part of him that I could hold without Leah noticing - was fading gradually. I tried not to think about it. I concentrated on us getting him back to Carlisle. It was bad enough that I'd put Edward in danger by being stupid enough to let myself get captured by the Volturi. I would not take Jacob down with me, though.

That was when a low voice called my name.

"Bella..."

Seth swore, and slunk next to me at lightning speed, pinning me against the wall as he pressed himself between me and whoever had greeted us. With a shaky voice, I called back, "Identify yourself, please?"

There was a booming laugh of utmost relief. "Identify myself?" he sniggered. "And I thought I was always a man who needed no introduction."

I almost swooned, I was so happy. "Oh, Emmett!" I tripped in a most timely fashion, falling against his colossal chest. He caught me with another grin. Behind him, Jasper's voice came out in a harsh whisper. "Jacob's hurt?"

Leah refused to respond. She had made her feelings towards vampires more than clear by this point.

"Yes," Seth said bravely. "Leah and he killed one of the little Volturi kids, and two others."

"Oooh, did he take out Jane?" Emmett said so hopefully that I almost giggled. "Youngest menopausal brat I've ever met."

"Definitely the most deadly," Jasper agreed solemnly.

I bit my lip. "No, he got Alec."

Both of them let out a noise of comprehension. "Still, impressive," Jasper commented with approval. "Alice said...the entire guard was sent? And you destroyed three?"

"Did you burn them?" Emmett asked quickly, "And piss on the ashes?"

"Emmett!" I scolded.

He chortled. "Just because I can't piss, doesn't mean you still can't, Bells." With a swift arm, he knocked my legs out from beneath me and began to carry me. I tried to get him to put me back down, but he said that my human speed was most annoying.

"I'll go burn any pieces I can find," Jasper said, darting off into the darkness.

"He can't go alone!" I told Emmett desperately. "There's still heaps out there!"

I could have sworn that the brawny vampire rolled his eyes. "Bella," he said flatly, "Jasper has forged and slain over a thousand newborns. I think he can handle a few Volturi pansies."

Leah swore under her breath. Not understanding Emmett's nothing-is-sacred humour, she took it as a personal offense that he seemed to believe Jacob was now so close to death due to a lack of fighting ability. Emmett either didn't notice her anger, or didn't seem to care.

Sure enough, a pungent smell began to creep through the tunnels. I choked and pressed my nose against Emmett's shoulder in repulsion. "My God, that's awful!"

"I love the smell of napalm in the morning," Emmett grinned. "Smelled like...Volturi."

Seth chuckled in spite of himself. "An 'Apocalypse Now' man?" He seemed impressed. "I'd high-five you, but you'd probably knock my hand off."

Leah muttered hatefully under her breath.

"Wanna say that louder, puppy?" Emmett said, smirking.

She shook her head at him, not trusting herself to speak.

"I don't know where you lot were headed," the vampire laughed, "But you were going even deeper to the tunnels with the path you were taking. Good thing I happened to be strolling along..."

I got snippy. "Okay, we know you're awesome, thank you."

"And don't you forget it," he replied haughtily. "Now, to find that suicidal brother of mine. Probably spouting Romeo's death speech atop the Volterra tower by now. I hope not... this may just be my personal belief, but fifteenth century tights do not flatter Edward. He doesn't have the calves for them."

His wrist still in my hand, I felt Jacob's pulse dim even further.

"Hurry," I pleaded.

A whirring sound made my ears hum before I realised that they were footsteps, too fast for me to hear individually. Emmett seemed pleased, so I relaxed in his arms. "Hey, Rose," he greeted. "Found the little runaway and the runts of the Quileute litter."

Leah was ropable after that comment. She almost dropped Jacob in her efforts to contain her fury.

"Ease up," I said to Emmett heavily. "Vampires just hurt her friend - she's not feeling too thrilled with your lot at the moment."

Rosalie sniffed in disdain, and said nothing of Jacob's predicament. That's when a thunderous but small voice blasted me from several feet below.

"Bella!" cried Alice. "Emmett, give her to me!"

"No," he whined, "She's all little and delicate. I like feeling like the man for once... Rose is so emasculating."

"Fine. Learn to fix your own car then," Rosalie shrugged.

Alice growled, and Emmett hastily gave me up. I felt ridiculous, being carried by someone nearly half my size as we sped along the tunnels. We had to slow down a little for Leah, who was struggling with Jacob's dead weight.

"You are in so much trouble," Alice hissed in my ear. "I thought we told you not to leave the house that night!"

I could barely remember so far back as two nights ago, as I, fresh from a major argument with Edward, had stormed away. Thinking I'd needed space, he'd let me go...

...Straight into the arms of Demetri, who praised my unwitting cooperation, before rendering me unconscious.

Guilty as hell - or, putting hell to shame with my competitive guilt - I apologised profusely.

"You're just lucky that you didn't manage to get yourself killed," she grumbled. "Now we have to stop Edward adding himself to Aro's collection. I'm just worried it'll take more than that - Aro's lost three major players tonight; Alec, Chelsea and Nathaniel. He'll be damned if he doesn't have Edward to show for it."

"Even Jane's in the doghouse tonight," Rosalie went on. "And judging from the smell of this tunnel, that is naturally the worst place to be."

"Rose," Alice sighed. She looked around, nervous. "Jasper will be back soon?"

Emmett ruffled her hair, which seemed completely redundant since we were travelling at over eighty miles per hour, and her hair was already blown back. "Don't worry, squirt, he won't be long. You know how he loves to play Pyro."

He'd barely finished the sentence when Jasper had caught up with us. "There you are," he said in absolute relief, kissing Alice on her temple. She smiled serenely above me, looking whole once more. All worry had disappeared.

I ached to feel that same soothing comfort, for Edward's touch to unravel the knots of horror within my stomach.

"I'm so sorry..." I whispered to Alice. "For everything."

She rolled her eyes. "I didn't mean it, Bella," she said. "I was just venting. I will be quite put out with Aro if he doesn't give us our Edward back, or there will be no living with you and your guilt. Then I'll have to turn you myself, just so you can focus on bloodlust for a change instead of how bad you feel."

Half of this plan appealed to me. The other half - the part where Edward was trapped in Italy - did not.

Finally, a pinprick of light pierced my eye. Excited, I pointed to it. "Look!" I exclaimed.

Rosalie snorted. "So human..."

"We saw it about eight minutes ago," Emmett said. I frowned. We hadn't been going straight...there'd been so many twists and turns. Guessing why I was confused, he went to explain. "The reflection bounced off all of the walls. That's how we could see the way," he said.

Holy crow. I couldn't wait for vampire eyesight.

I'd barely exhaled before we reached the opening in the rocks. Unfortunately, it seemed to be raining torrents in Volterra at the moment. Getting a spring, Alice jumped upward, leaping out of the hole in the ground. Rain pelted against her hair, making her smell even more delicious. I breathed in her scent, my desire to be near Edward increasing tenmillionfold.

"All right," Alice said in a business-like manner against the rain. Her audibility was for my benefit - the other Cullens could hear her plan shared in the merest breath. "Rose, go with Leah and Seth back to Carlisle and Esme - see what he can do for his injuries. Em, Jas, we need to go save Edward from doing something stupid - again."

"What is it with him and Italy?" Jasper wanted to know.

Rosalie laughed. "Yeah. Why doesn't he go and see the Statue of David like everyone else?"

Emmett elbowed her playfully. "Oh come on. David's just a naked statue. Eddie can see that in the mirror every day - only smaller."

"Okay," I called loudly. I rather hoped that only I would ever have these mental pictures available to me. "Can we stay on task? Jacob needs serious help."

Seth nodded quickly, and without another word, he and Leah had taken off with a complaining Rosalie running behind them, trying to protect her hair.

Alice sighed, and Emmett gathered me in his arms once again so she could free her hands. "Thanks," she said gratefully. "Not that you're heavy, Bella..."

And the four of us were racing through the moonlit downpour, keeping to the shadows as we blurred our way back to the Volterra tower, past the old ruins and the Centre Square. The clock chimed twelve times, alerting me once again of how much time had passed. "Faster," I urged Emmett.

"Aww," he laughed, "The human is unsatisfied with our speed, Jas."

Jasper's poker face wavered. "We didn't want to make you ill, Bella. Edward warned us you don't fare well with travelling too quickly."

"I don't care," I said breathlessly. "Go as fast as you need - OH!"

They didn't have to be told twice. I screamed as I clung against Emmett, trying to keep my neck from snapping backward from the extreme acceleration. He found it hilarious. It turned out for the best, though - I'd only just summoned another breath to yell in protest for the second time before we were already inside the castle, Jasper neatly closing the doors behind us. At the speed we had been going, we hadn't even gotten that wet. Emmett had to shake only slightly to let the spray of raindrops flick off of us.

He set me down - and I one-upped him by crashing to the ground, too dizzy to stand.

"I keep forgetting," Emmett apologised, hauling me up by my forearm, "How adorably human you are. Isn't she a hoot?"

"Emmett," Jasper said quietly, "We need to concentrate now."

"Okay, Oh-Captain-My-Captain," he nodded, saluting. "Off to save our dicky brother."

Hoisting me this time on his back, Emmett followed Jasper, who led the way with enviable silence. Only my breath could be heard - that and the occasional trickle of rain on the marble floor. Alice moved like a cautious gazelle, and even burly Emmett had more grace than I had ever possessed. We walked through the long, empty corridor until Jasper froze at the door to the hall. I shuddered, remembering all the humans that had been slaughtered here a year ago. I didn't even want to think how many had perished between these walls... probably reaching the millions by now.

Jasper didn't move for several seconds, staring intensely at the door.

Alice stroked his arm. Jasper whispered, "Is he in there?"

Oh. They were calling Edward in their thoughts. That made more sense than bursting in. Alice closed her eyes, and then nodded. "I see him. Aro is...interrogating several of the guard. Caius has killed one. He's furious. No one can determine whether Bella is still alive."

"Edward's terrified," Jasper said sadly. "And contemplating how he's going to end his life again, judging from the despair that I can feel."

"Typical," Emmett grumbled.

Alice still concentrated on the visions in her mind. She winced. "All right, Jasper, he's heard you. He's looking at Aro neutrally, but his expression is calmer. He knows that Bella lives."

"So death by public sparkling is off the agenda?" Emmett said. "Thank Dracula almighty. There are far manlier ways to kill yourself - I tell him this all the time, but he never listens."

"Oh?" I raised my eyebrows at him.

He smiled wryly. "Wrestling a bear comes to mind."


	8. Didyme

_Edward._

"I don't know!" Renata cried pitifully as Caius beat her brutally across the face, knocking her sideways. She clutched her skin, fear in her eyes. "The wolves surprised us - one of them took the human, while we stayed and - "

"Stayed?" Aro's brow rose smartly. "I have had quite a different account, my dear. While I understand that offense is not your talent, you have embarrassed the Volturi with your cowardice and your incompetence. And you shall be...punished accordingly. Oh, Jane?"

He turned around, looking for his three-foot monster. However, it appeared Jane had not returned from when she had stormed out earlier, and could thus not be the deliverer of torture.

Aro scowled. "Well, that was anti-climactic," he sighed. His gaze snapped back to Renata condescendingly. "I will deal with _you_ later."

Shaking, she retreated back into the throng of the terrified guard, awaiting individual judgement from their masters. Only Demetri, Felix, Heidi and Santiago remained protected by Jane's memories of the clash. The latter two had pursued Bella and Seth before losing track of them. All others stood to be judged. Aro announced Corin to come forth. The young vampire did so, never blinking in his approach.

"You were the first to run?" Aro asked, although his voice clearly indicated that this was not a question to which he did not know the answer.

Corin nodded once. "Yes. I intended to seek help."

"For three shapeshifters?" his master said pityingly. "You doubted that my entire guard could handle three little dogs?"

"They're our genetic equals," Corin dared to argue. "They fight with the same ferocity - I was being cautious, and with good reason-"

Aro marched across the platform, staring at the distant ceiling. "The same ferocity, you say, boy?"

Corin nodded with urgency.

"And by same, you mean...no greater? Which would once again stand to reason that eighteen of my best and brightest could have slaughtered these three...genetic equals of ours?"

The boy knew his fate before Caius had plunged a ruby encrusted sword through his back - a sword forged by vampires, with melted skin and venom in its blade. Caius used it for execution, and Aro had decreed Corin a weak link in the Volturi guard. The grinding screech pierced the ears of everyone present as Corin was decimated, his shards kicked into a flaming basin.

"Miserable weather we're having," Marcus commented idly, looking out the window. Aro scorned him, turning violently back to the guard.

"Shame on you, children," he said sadly. "We have no room for cowards under our roof. If you feel like you have lost your spine, go join the Olympic coven and fast from human blood like hungry fools."

I bristled at this slur against my family, but it was not unexpected. The Cullens and the Denali clan were the secret scourge of the vampire world, even though before today, the Volturi had feigned admiration for our commitment.

_Jane will find her,_ Aro comforted himself. He knew I knew that he was just passing time. He tried to keep his thoughts pure, but cracks formed in his flurried musings. He was desperate for Bella to be alive. With four guard members down – he needed me. He would not let me leave.

_Darling Jane,_ he thought, _You know I did not mean to offend you, my heart. Bring Bella... bring Bella so we can rebuild our family. And then, maybe Alice will come too... and I hear her mate has his own abilities... and dear Carlisle would surely follow his children?_

He was deluded. Worse still, he was obsessed.

_Edward!_

I stared at him harder, but was surprised to find that the voice that called my name had overrode his thoughts. Concluding another required my attention, I searched harder for the voice.

_Edward, we are outside. Alice, Emmett and I. And Bella. She is alive, all right? She is safe. _

I almost sank to the ground from the flooding wave of relief. She hadn't been slaughtered... the cowardly guard had not been lying to save their marble skins. Bella truly was okay. I could have sung an entire musical, I was so glad. I even imagined in my mind's eye, my heart resuming its beating. It was not so, but this news was even better than the renewal of life.

I cleared my throat, and Aro turned to me, his eyes bugging slightly. The stress was shining through after a full night's bloodbath, with nothing to show for it.

"It would seem," I began solemnly, "that you cannot produce my fiancé."

Caius's nostrils flared. "You should be thanking us for saving you the humiliation, boy," he said in disgust. "Marriage to a human? It's obscene! Aro, just kill him, I tire of this!"

Aro flinched. "No, Edward, you agreed to join us..."

"Pending proof that Bella had not been killed!" I shouted. "Even then, my word was thin. You have given me no incentive to stay, short of blackmail. What kind of familial feelings could this possibly inspire, Aro? Especially while I live in fear that you may have killed my future wife?"

The strangest thing happened when I mentioned those two separate words... _Killed_, and _wife_, I mean. Aro's back straightened in an almost unnatural way, and his usually genial gaze flickered to Marcus, who stared at me listlessly.

_Killed whose wife?_ Aro demanded hotly in his mind. _He surely doesn't know such things!_

And when his eyes found mine, I was grinning in the most brazen of ways. His pupils shrank.

I too allowed my eyes to wander to Marcus, and my grin deepened.

"Interesting..." I said lightly. "You certainly are a family, Aro. For what family is without their secrets?"

In my mind, I heard Alice outside, giggling in absolute glee. _I could kiss you!_ she squealed.

Aro swallowed.

"Edward..." he said. "Be reasonable..."

"I can see why you have such a taste for blackmail," I went on casually, pacing about. "It has the most intoxicating flavour, does it not, Aro?"

Caius barked, "Brother, what is he rambling about?"

Irritated that he was the subject of constant looks from his brother and I, Marcus frowned in the slightest curiosity. "Yes...Aro, what is he speaking of?"

Drawing ever closer to Aro, I let my voice drop to the softest of whispers. "Do you _really_ want me in your family?" I smiled. "For I can assure you, I have no desire to join a family of vampires of such arrogance - especially when a man would kill his own sister to stop his brother from running away with her..."

Again, my gaze strayed to Marcus, who blinked with full interest at my face. "He hasn't gotten over Didyme's mysterious death, has he? I always wondered why he lacked emotion... Can you just imagine the passion that would be ignited within him if I were to...accidentally slip the truth?"

He nervously repeated my name, trying to sound threatening.

I laughed him off.

"Bella's outside," I told him. "My 'spineless' brothers and sisters rescued her from the stench of your guard's incompetence. And I will be leaving with her tomorrow morning. None of us wish to stay, lest we spend so much time around Marcus that he should someday learn what truly happened to his wife, your sister, when they wanted to leave the Volturi forever..."

And finally, I'd rendered Aro utterly speechless. I look a step back and smiled cordially at him. I then turned and bowed to Marcus and Caius.

"I bid you farewell," I called. "It has been a most..._enlightening_ visit. I have learned a great deal."

"Get out," Aro spat.

"As fast as I possibly can," I promised him.

I turned and waved to the citizens, who all sat uncomfortably in their seats, looking terribly bewildered. "Goodbye, my friends. I wish you every happiness under this corrupt, defunct and totalitarian family. May they continue to inspire fear and terror throughout the vampire world, hear hear!"

No one cheered, and I laughed.

And right on cue, Alice had kicked the doors open with an almighty crash. Emmett grinned broadly at me, and Jasper stood with his arms crossed, smiling a subtle smile of approval. "Not bad," he commended.

But best of all was when I saw the tiny hands that clung for dear life around Emmett's thick neck. With a swift movement, Emmett had masterfully swung her around his body, placing her steadily on the ground before me.

"Merry Christmas," he snickered.

And Bella had dragged me into her arms and was kissing me with such hunger, such passion, that I felt the humanity flooding back inside me.

"I thought I'd lost you," I clasped her face, memorising it all over again.

Her lips trailed down my neck with urgency. "Can't get rid of me that easily," she responded.

"Believe me, we've tried," Emmett said under his breath with a smirk.

Alice punched him.

And, uninhibited by a terrified Aro with an ancient secret, we left Volterra tower with our freedom and our power.


	9. Masochism

_Bella:_

The run home was one of high spirits. Rolling their eyes in unison, Alice and Jasper had raced ahead to give us some privacy. Emmett tried to hang around like a bad smell, but Edward threatened to key his jeep if he didn't get lost, so he too went to catch up with his siblings.

"Alone at last," Edward said in a low voice, slowing our run to a normal speed...for a gold-medal winning Olympian. Still clinging to his back, I kissed his hard throat softly, catching his ear between my teeth.

He gasped so sharply that he missed a step. "Bella..." he growled, "Must you distract me so?"

"I thought running was second nature," I protested, not ready to relinquish his skin from my lips' ambush.

"Yes, but...it's _really, really_ distracting," he explained. "What with your sweet blood, your delectable warmth, your soft, wet lips on my cold skin... You're simply irresistible. I can hardly remember where my feet are located, let alone how exactly to run."

"Well, when you put it that way..." I murmured, instead sliding one of my hands to his chest, dragging my nails across the skin there.

And again, he tripped, rolling us into the wet grass beneath an old tree. "You have no mercy," he accused, landing on top of me.

After he'd kissed me so thoroughly I had to be reminded to breathe, he lifted himself slightly and just stared at my face.

"I thought I was never going to see you again..." I whispered.

"And I, you."

The rain had not fully stopped from a few hours before. I shivered beneath him, but for two entirely different reasons. "Would you have really joined the Volturi?" I asked him weakly. The thought scared me more than anything, to see Edward's face beneath a robe, with glowing crimson eyes... launching himself at unexpected tourists who'd been lured to the corridor -

Stop it, Bella.

He looked serious. "You cannot imagine the lengths I would go to, to guarantee your safety - half of which I could never even admit to myself, let alone to you."

I frowned.

"I'm sorry about the fight we had..." I said. "Before I got... you know. Human-napped."

"It's a discussion we will calmly have again whenever you see fit," he promised me.

"Even now?" I tested.

He sighed. "If that is what you truly wish..."

I smiled. "You're off the hook for now, Edward Cullen. But we _will_ have that discussion."

"I did give you my word that we would try before your transformation," he felt the need to remind himself. "And at the moment of truth, I went back on that word. You were right to be furious with me for lying to you. I'm sorry that I made you leave the house...and even sorrier that I did not run after you, begging your forgiveness."

"Don't you dare claim all the guilt here, mister," I said savagely. "We are equals in this relationship, and will share our masochism accordingly."

Morbidly amused, he agreed. "Strange girl..."

By this point, my shivering had become so pronounced that his mouth set into a grim line. I went to protest to moving even an inch, but he told me to hush as he swept me up once more, and we were then pelting through the storming Italian countryside. As much as he could, he protected me from the rain.

I shared most of the properties of a vampire by the time we had made it to a modest, remote country house. "Carlisle owns a place in just about every country in the world," he explained to me with a smile. "Two in Italy, in fact. But the other is too far away – and Tuscany is much more picturesque this time of year..."

He was quite right. As dismal as the weather was, it only seemed to make the house look even more beautiful in the breaking dawn. Pale spills of creamy blue light smeared the sky light the light touch of watercolour paint. He opened the door, and then laid me down on the closest couch he could locate, arming me with two quilts and a battalion of pillows.

"Would you like something warm to drink?" he asked me, concern creasing the perfection of his face. I shook my head and snuggled deeper into the blankets. It was silly to ask him to hold me when I was so cold, but I still wanted him to. Reading the forlorn look on my face, he promised, "When your heart is beating more normally, I will. It's...worryingly slow at the moment."

Whatever agent of sleep had been trying to lull me, I suddenly fought it as I sat up in the couch, wild. I wasn't the only one who had a worryingly slow heart. "Oh my God, Edward... _Jacob!_ Where's Jacob? Is he okay? He was–"

Another grim line crossed his face, and his head twitched in the direction of a room deeper into the house. "He's...being looked after. He's not doing too well, love."

My pupils shrank. Before he could stop me – and that's saying something – I was marching to the other end of the house. Edward followed me stoically, opening the door behind which the rest of his family were hidden. I came to a halt as I saw Jacob lying on a table, his shirt ripped open to reveal wounds that were far worse than I had imagined. The darkness of the Volturi tunnels had been kind to me; they had hidden a truth which was too grim to process.

Someone screamed, and it took me a moment to realise it had been me. Carlisle nodded at Edward, sending him some kind of thought which Edward shook his head at, and looked at me. With a beaming smile, Esme moved forward to give Edward a tender embrace. The eldest Cullen then began monitoring Jacob's pulse again with his index finger.

"What's happening?" I demanded.

Carlisle looked weary. "We don't really have the most sophisticated medical equipment here, Bella, but I am doing what I can with the limited supply that I have. His wounds are refusing to close and he's lost a lot of blood. I didn't know that our venom had this effect on werewolves."

I replayed his words in my head, checking and then double checking to see if I could detect any indication whether Jacob would be all right. He hadn't said anything very positive.

"You know," Rosalie mused aloud, "It's really a marker of how bad the dog smells that we're all not ravenous with thirst at the moment..."

From the farthest corner of the room, Leah Clearwater snarled at her. She and Seth were in wolf form. Her little brother nudged her with his nose, and she growled in return, obviously not welcoming the reprimand.

"So what's happening to him?" Jasper wanted to know, genuinely curious. His curiosity was too clinical for my liking, which was why I shot a glare in his direction that he didn't notice at first. However, a wave of my anger must have hit him with violence, because he turned around in surprise and then looked apologetic.

Carlisle frowned. "I thought werewolves were totally immune to the venom; that it was just like the saliva of any animal to them." He looked pointedly at Leah. She obviously didn't know, as she remained still under his puzzled gaze. He tried stitching some more of Jacob's wounds again but they would not budge. The skin seemed to have gone rock hard in those places, blood oozing out slowly but steadily.

In the corner, Alice was frowning as if she had a headache. The proximity of the werewolves must have been really getting to her. I knew how she hated being blind.

Seth began whining. Leah's head twisted around in what I could plainly tell was a death glare. Whatever conversation they were having through their pack communication was a not a pleasant one. Meanwhile, Carlisle continued to quietly try and do all he could for Jacob, injecting him with medicines to lessen the pain even though he was completely out for the count.

"Jacob's going to die, isn't he," I whispered to Edward.

He turned me around, his hands sliding to my shoulders as he kissed my forehead.

I couldn't help but notice that there was no answer there.

My heart wept bitterly. "He shouldn't have come," I scowled, the pain liquefying at my eyes as I pressed into Edward's chest. "I'll never forgive him if he leaves me."

With an abrupt roar of fury that began animal and became human, I was suddenly shoved against the wall by a very angry, _very_ naked Leah. Her eyes were like Amazons in furious attack.

"How _dare you_?" she screamed, slapping me hard across the face. Within seconds, Emmett had seized her around the waist and was pulling her away from me while Edward leapt before me protectively, his lips pulled back over his teeth in an aggressive hiss. Alice helpfully brought her jeans and tank top over which Leah snatched away with no gratitude. It irritated Jasper to see his wife disrespected, but Alice shook her head at him and he settled reluctantly.

My face stung.

Sliding into her clothes, Leah swore at me under her breath. "You are so lucky you have a room full of leeches babysitting you," she sneered. "I could break your _spine_–"

"That's _enough_," Carlisle said loudly. "Leah, I understand how painful this is for you. Bella is just as upset over Jacob's injuries. It is not helping to argue over whose fault it is. We must remember that the Volturi are entirely to blame, and we've done the best we could in a dire situation. Jacob was very brave to come all the way with us to Italy to save Bella."

Ending on one of her least favourite words, Leah again tried to rush me but was blocked by a ridiculously grinning Emmett. Judging by Edward's queasy face, his big brother was still rotating images of Leah's lithe, nude form in his mind. Leah may have been a werewolf, but she was no dog.

With another snarl, she turned on her heel and thundered out. Whining again, Seth followed.

"All we can do is wait to see if there's a change," Carlisle said quietly to me. "He is exactly the same as when Rosalie and the Clearwaters brought him in – no better, no worse. I'm almost thankful he's unconscious; he'd be in the most terrible pain if he were awake."

While this didn't alleviate my mental anguish, I forced myself to find comfort in that fact also. I wouldn't know what to do with myself if he was in pain.

"No!" Alice shouted.

Edward whipped around to face her. She was sitting in an unnaturally tense way on one of the wooden seats, staring ahead blankly. Edward gasped and looked at me.

"I can't see much," she whispered to him. "It's fragmented for some reason, which doesn't make sense because the decision has been made so absolutely."

"What is it?" Jasper asked quickly. "Aro has changed his mind?"

Esme came to stand next to me. "Bella, would you like something to eat? You must be famished after–"

"I appreciate the sentiment," I said as gently as I could in my annoyance, "But I'm not leaving the room. Sorry."

Looking pretty amused, Emmett sniggered. "Who wants to kill Bella now? Or did our buddy James come back from the afterdeath?"

"Emmett," Carlisle said quietly, "Please. Alice, what's coming?"

She bit her lip. "Jane. She is after vengeance for Alec's death. And she wants Bella."

Staggered, I said, "Why?"

Edward looked furious with himself. "Of course," he groaned. "She threatened this before – I forgot about it. We have to get you out of here, Bella. Jane is no longer under Aro's control for the moment – she is too stricken with grief."

I breathed in deeply, frowning. "Edward, wait..."

"We can't!" he argued, moving to sweep me up, but I stood back, shaking my head.

Suddenly, everything made sense. Jacob came to rescue me because, even if he wasn't in love with me anymore, he still cared for me.

...But Leah came because she was in love with Jacob.

It was the only thing that fit. She had already made if quiet apparent that she was not here out of any concern for me. And I doubted that Jacob would have given her an Alpha order to follow him – he liked to play the lone wolf. Seth and Leah had chosen to back him up...

"She's not after me," I whispered. "She wants Leah."

Edward froze, replaying dialogue through his mind. He stared at Alice in wonder. "Could that be why your visions are fragmented? You are only seeing Jane's hunt...not the actual act of her killing..."

"Because there is a werewolf involved!" she cried. "Of course!"

"Leah'll be okay," Emmett shrugged. "She's already in a pissy mood – Janet Bratson doesn't stand a chance against that kind of PMS. She'll totally have the upper hand."

Jasper added solemnly, "At least until Jane hits her with an illusion of pain."

Emmett slumped. "Oh...right."

Clearing his throat, Carlisle looked back at Edward and me. "Esme and I will stay here with Jacob. You need to go and bring Leah back safely. Don't underestimate Jane – she's small, but she's the most lethal of the Volturi's entire arsenal."

Edward sniffed. "Bella, you're not coming."

"Why not?" I demanded.

"Because," Alice replied, "Then Edward won't be able to fight, because he'll be too busy wondering if you're okay. Stay here – it's the only way we'll get Leah back safely, Bella."

I couldn't argue. I didn't want to hinder them with my lousy humanity.

Miserable all the same, I nodded sadly. "Go make sure Jane hasn't gotten her," I said, kissing him. "And please...be careful."


	10. Jane

_Edward:_

Leaving Bella behind nearly destroyed me. After almost losing her to the Volturi's bloodlust, I was reluctant to be apart from her. However, it obviously meant more to her that Leah be returned to Jacob safely so that was why Jasper and I were coordinating outside Santa Maria Assunta's cathedral. At this early hour, monks were walking around the perimeter in silence. The grey sunlight was still muted enough so that our skin was safe from becoming a spectacle.

"Do you have her scent?" I asked him.

_Jane or Leah?_ he wanted to know.

"Wait, is this a rescue mission, or an assassination?" Rosalie frowned at me.

"You'd be up for either though, right?" her husband said, challenge edging his words.

Her face went callously vacant. "I'm not too keen on either, frankly. One aligns us with werewolves; the other makes us definite enemies of the Volturi."

My laugh was hollow. "Rosalie, your blond hair is having a deeply adverse effect on your brain. We've been on the Volturi's hit list for _decades_ now. This changes nothing. I am hoping that I've at least managed to secure us some protection for now," I added, thinking of the secret I was guarding for Aro.

Rose, who'd encountered the entire Volturi only once, could not shake her fear of them. However, Emmett was looking at her in disappointment at her lack of loyalty to her brother, so she waved a dismissive hand and urged me to continue.

"First and foremost, we must save Leah," I said. "She ran out intent on putting a lot of distance between us, so she and Seth could be anywhere within a hundred mile radius."

Alice was still frowning. "I can see Jane," she assured me. "As soon as she disappears, we'll know that we're too late."

"Does she have Leah's scent?" Jasper wanted to know.

Alice shrugged. "She definitely has Jacob's. She was silly enough to drink his blood. For a vampire as old and wise as her, she didn't really get the 411 on werewolves, did she?"

Rosalie was getting impatient. Her thoughts longed to be back in Forks, and the combination of Emmett, a powerful spa-bath and a lot of privacy wandered wistfully into her mind. Emmett, on the other hand, was still thinking about Leah naked.

"God, you two..." I scowled at them. "Focus, please?"

My sister looked unashamed. Emmett grinned sheepishly at me. "What? She's hot." He kissed Rosalie on the cheek, and she, none the wiser, beamed at him.

Alice was still searching. "Edward..." she said, "Jane is back at the _Piazza dei Priori_. She's just...standing there, in the shadows. She looks like she's waiting..."

I saw the flashes in her mind. Cherubic Jane's face was anciently scarred with agony. Her extraordinary youth was a thing of the past - now, she had matured into the most hardened of killers. She no longer wanted to play with her food.

With an abrupt nod, we were running across the countryside once more, arriving at the Piazza with impressive speed. As predicted, Jane was standing beneath an arch, inhaling the air.

"Ah," she greeted us the moment she caught sight of our family from across the square. "I thought I smelled a rat."

Emmett grinned cockily. "_Five_ rats, actually. We like to stick together. Which is more than we can say for you and your little boyfriend."

Her nostrils flared, and she glared at the cobble street beneath her.

"Tell me, Cullen," she spat with such suppressed wrath that Emmett laughed in surprise, "Will you be so cheerful when I have your lover screaming for mercy?" Her gaze shifted to Rosalie with a hunger for torture. Rose's brow creased nervously. She did not like the Volturi.

A retort was forming in Emmett's brazen mind, but Jasper pinched his marble skin extra hard to get the message across. With a grunt of pain, Emmett bit back his initial response and instead fell silent.

"We know you're after the werewolf," Alice called over to her. "And you should know that if you even think about hurting her, you will have to deal with the five of us."

Jane was revolted. "First humans, now you protect werewolves? _Mi Dio_... I am truly perplexed that Aro did not slaughter you on sight for your offense against vampires everywhere. Where is the dog?

"Did you not hear us?" I asked, taking a bold step forward which she noted with excitement.

"My hearing is excellent, Edward Cullen," she hissed. Her mind raced with desires to see me writhing before her in pain. Others fantasised about snapping Leah's neck. At that moment, she was conflicted with what she wanted more. It was like giving a child the choice between a lollipop and a piece of cake... both were sweet, but in different ways. The cake would deliver immediate satisfaction... but the lollipop would have a lasting pleasure.

Her sweet tooth appeared to prefer immediacy, however, which was when I felt the nails drilling fast into my skin. I gasped, rooted to the spot. She just smiled at me, a flicker of her sadistic lust returning to her.

Alice was the first to realise what was happening; she squeezed Jasper's hand and together, they launched at Jane from either side. With a shriek, she side-stepped them - but not before she delivered a staggering tidal-wave of pain that made my knees buckle beneath me. Momentarily debilitated, I winced as her mind screamed for self-preservation. She dodged Alice and Jasper, shooting between them and leaping high onto the top of the large wall surrounding the square. With a growl, Emmett pursued her while Rosalie helped me up.

"This is going to end badly," Rosalie said to me darkly.

Hearing her, Emmett boomed a laugh. "Don't be stupid, Rose. She's like three feet tall. I - AH!"

He shouted a loud curse word and fell off the fall with greater force than that of Humpty Dumpty. Rosalie screamed, and Jasper took off after Jane who took this moment of distraction to flee. She was so small that she soon disappeared into the distance, Jasper streaking behind her.

Alice's eyes widened in horror.

"Edward," she breathed, her mind disintegrating before my eyes.

And I took off after Jasper, terrified.

Because if there was one vision that I could not stand to have become reality, it was Jane killing my brother.

--

Okay, gonna go bug Jess to make me write some more... I have 5 pages of the next chapter already.

- Lolly.


	11. Bloodloss

_Bella._

"What if Jane kills them?" I asked Carlisle, fretting again.

He was very patient with me. "Bella, Jasper in particular has had extensive training in fighting vampires. Emmett is the strongest person I know. Rosalie's love for Emmett has been known to give her the kind of passion that cause the most frightening of destruction; Alice is as dangerous as she is sweet... And Edward? Edward fights for you."

I slumped guiltily in my seat. He wouldn't have needed to if I had have just figured out Jane's true purpose sooner... We could have protected Leah far more efficiently on our own terms.

"But - "

"Bella, sweetheart," Esme said soothingly. She stroked my hair. "You should rest. I promise I'm not trying to distract you this time... you truly do look exhausted. By the time you wake up, everything will be right again."

I shook my head. "I'm sorry, but I won't forgive myself if something happens and I'm not awake for it. And I need to stay with Jacob."

Carlisle and Esme exchanged looks. Under his breath, he muttered something so fast and low that I didn't have a prayer of hearing. She looked vaguely alarmed by his words, and looked back at Jacob. She then looked at me, and he shook his head.

"I'm not sure," he said quietly. "Maybe."

Noticing that I was getting irritated with their private conversation, Carlisle tried to smile encouragingly at me. I would not be encouraged.

They both left the room to continue their discussion away from me so as not to infuriate me further. I just crept closer to Jacob on the table until I was lying beside, leaning over him. I stroked his face...

"You're going to get the glaring of a lifetime when you wake up, chump," I said in my most impressive voice. "Nothing can prepare you for it."

He was still beneath my fingers, his lips parted and crackled, his tan quite ashen from the bloodloss. I felt queasy as I looked down at one of his arms that Carlisle had expertly strapped. Demetri and Felix had done so much damage...

I must have lay there for nearly an hour when I felt his heart skip strangely. In an instant, my attention locked on him once more. His skin had dropped to a freezing temperature...only to shoot back up.

"Jacob?" I whispered, shaking him lightly. "Are you okay?"

There was a dull snap beneath me. At first I feared I'd broken a rib somehow - even though I was scarcely touching him! - but then an entire succession of snaps followed until it occurred to me that his bones were actually healing. Relief swarmed me.

That was when his eyes snapped open, and he stared at me like I was the craziest thing he'd ever seen in his life.

"Jacob!" I cried. He sat up and I launched myself into his arms, holding him dearly. "Thank God. I was scared to death." Glaring was totally out of my mind now in light of his consciousness.

He embraced me in return, but with a certain...hesitation. It was as if I were suddenly breakable. Leaning into me, he breathed in deeply, his nose nuzzled against my hair.

Not really seeing the appeal of this - since I'd spent the last day or so underground in the dark, dank Volturi tunnels, I pulled away. "Okay, that wasn't weird or anything. Or do I still stink of vampire?"

He just stared at me wildly, not blinking.

Now I was a little nervous. "Jacob?" I asked. "...Are you okay? You don't seem...right."

I hoped that Jane hadn't taken a chunk out of his brain stem or something.

"Um..." I said, leaning back, "I'm...I'm going to go get Carlisle, all right? Just so he can give you a look over."

"No," he shook his head. "Stay with me."

"I'll be like, a second - "

His hand clasped over my wrist, and he pulled me closer on the table, his mouth a breath away from my neck. "I _said_... stay with me." Again, he inhaled luxuriously. His hands kept alternating in temperature across my skin. I didn't know whether to shiver or sweat.

"Jake," I said in a soft voice. "You're...different."

He nodded, his nose grazing against my cheek. I shuddered as my heart sped up. His did too; I could feel it against the hand I had poised over his chest to try and push him away. He was scaring me now. We had agreed before that any feelings we may or may not have had for each other were pretty much redundant. But he wasn't acting like a lovesick puppy anymore. This was completely beyond what I knew of Jacob Black.

I didn't hear him come in, but Carlisle's calm, commanding voice consumed me. "Bella," he said, "Walk slowly over to me, please."

"Don't," Jacob argued.

I looked in some panic at Carlisle. He seemed to sense a threat that I had not yet understood. "Bella," he repeated. "Come now. Nice and slow. Try not to disturb the air..."

Now that advice I knew all too well. In some horror, I peeled myself away from Jacob against his will, and moved with as much grace as I, Bella Klutzy Swan, could manage, over to Carlisle. He stepped in front of me as Jacob stared, his eyes burning a dull, unnatural colour.

I yelped, seizing Carlisle's arm. "No! That's not possible!"

Carlisle brushed me off gently, moving toward Jacob who hadn't taken his hungry eyes off of me. He didn't appear to notice Carlisle approaching him, his stethoscope prepped in his hand, nor did he put up a fuss as the doctor monitored his heart rate. All he cared about was that I was still in the room, still... vulnerable.

"Your heart is doing the strangest things," Carlisle noted. "Are you aware of this, Jacob?"

Not shifting his gaze, he nodded.

"Would you hazard a guess as to why?"

Jake finally blinked, looking up at Dr. Cullen with a frown. "I don't feel well..." he mumbled. "I feel freezing. And...starving. And Bella..." he trailed off, looking at me in fascinated confusion.

Foreseeing a certain danger, Carlisle snapped his fingers in front of Jacob's eyes to seize his attention. Gaze falling away from me, Jacob looked up at the doctor with some guilt.  
"What's going on?" he asked loudly. "Why is Bella suddenly so–"

"So appealing?" Carlisle finished. He sighed in my direction. "It would appear that you did not escape the Volturi without…a few of our traits."

He stood up abruptly. "_What?_"

The speed of his movement jarred me so much that I staggered back. Jacob Black had always been fast. But... never as fast as Edward.

It appeared that things change.

"How did this happen?" I asked desperately of Carlisle. "They said Jane bit him and drank from him, but - I thought werewolves were immune no matter what - "

"They are not immune," he corrected me.

Jacob went to argue, but Carlisle gently shushed him. "From my research, they are merely able to escape death. Jane was foolish enough to try and drain you - I'm guessing that in her quest for vengeance, she injected far more venom than she intended. Your increased heart rate pumped it fast around your body, Jacob. And your immunity to its fatal effects kept you from dying."

"So what the hell am I?" he shouted, his fist striking the table in frustration. It shattered beneath his hand like a flimsy piece of plastic.

Hurriedly, Carlisle said, "You're werewolf, I'm sure. Just... your composition has been altered slightly. You appear to want blood. And you're stronger..."

Jacob was panting, hard. He dragged large, tendon-lined hands through his hair in panic. "This is not happening. I feel so...revolting. I can taste pain - it's burning at the back of my throat. It's sweet and bitter all at once, and - "

Once again, his eyes fell on me.

Carlisle barely had the chance to murmur a word of warning when Jacob suddenly had me shoved against the wall, his teeth at my neck. I struggled beneath him as I felt my skin punctured by his force. He moaned in a hollow, urgent way as I felt my shirt dampening. I could feel his fingers digging thirstily into my arms, trying to hold me still...

"No!" Carlisle cried, flinging Jacob away. He collided thunderously against the brick wall, destroying several rows. I sagged against Carlisle, dizzy from the attack. He pressed a hand to my neck and yelled for Esme. She came, gathering the crude medical equipment together, and passed him whatever he needed as he hurriedly worked on me.

Jacob, horrified, wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"Bella..." he stuttered. "Holy hell - Bells, I'm so sorry, I don't know why - "

"Stay where you are!" Carlisle shouted. "Just keep your distance, Jacob. I don't want you to leave, but you mustn't come closer to Bella or you will hurt her again. Do you think you can manage that control? Because if you can't, then you will have to go."

Shaky, Jacob slid down the wall, his hands trying to wipe the blood onto his thighs. Carlisle looked stressed as he turned to tend to me.

"Luckily, it appears that you don't have venom," he commented to Jacob. "Bella will be fine."

"I can't even feel it anymore," I assured him, since he still looked really upset.

This did not pacify him. "What have they done to me?" he groaned, staring in horror at his blood-smeared hands. Carlisle finished closing the wound at my throat before too much blood could be lost. I started getting lightheaded again, but it went away quickly.

"You're controlling yourself very well," Carlisle said in approval.

"Only after I took a chunk out of my best friend's jugular," Jacob said darkly. "It doesn't mean I don't want to do it again. Damn, Bella, I know what Cullen means now. You _do_ smell good. And you," he nodded at the doctor, "I mean, I'm not saying I wanna chow down on you, but you don't smell half as disgusting as you used to."

"Thank you, I think," Carlisle smiled kindly. He took my pulse, and informed me that I would be fine. I looked over at Jacob with pity, and he cringed away from it, hiding his face in his hands.

In a dull voice, he asked, "Where is everyone?"

Esme gave Carlisle a worried glance. Before they had time to sugarcoat the truth, I said bluntly, "They've gone to find Leah. She got…upset, and ran out with Seth."

Looking up sharply, his gaze seized mine. "But the Volturi… they–"

"They have allowed Bella and Edward to leave," Carlisle said in a overriding voice, trying to take the wheels again before I said something that might be anywhere close to reality. I cleared my throat, but Carlisle clamped his hand down on my shoulder in gentle warning.

"Why aren't they back already, then?" I demanded of Carlisle. "It's not fair to lie to him if something bad has happened!"

Now Jacob had descended into a glower. "Tell me," he commanded. "Don't worry, I won't bite…again."

"You are mildly frustrating, Bella," Carlisle chastised me. "All right, Jacob, they have gone after Leah as it appears she is being hunted by the Volturi's most sadistic vampire, Jane. She has a score to settle with you, for you killed her brother."

"Jane?" Jacob stood up, his temper rising. "The pipsqueak that turned me into _this_? I'll kill her if she touches Leah!"

"That's the plan, I'm sure," Carlisle sighed.

Not a moment had past before Jacob had stormed out. Esme quickly bolted after him, calling his name. I too ran behind. The seventeen-year-old had frozen at the door, his hands flexing in fury.

"I'm coming with you," I told him.

"Bella," Carlisle scolded. "Come now, Edward made it clear he wishes for you to be safe."

"_Be safe."_ Those words tasted like dirt on my tongue. There was no such thing as safe in this world, and nothing was sacred. All I had was my hope that I could be with Edward, whatever happened. To Jacob's surprise, I climbed on his back, and to my own surprise, he let me.

"I won't let her be alone," he said quietly to me. "She was an annoying, fiery shrew…and then I fell in love with her, Bella. None of that changed, of course, but I still will not let her die at the hand of that little leech. And I know how you feel…the need to be near him. Don't worry, I won't hurt you again. I know better now."

Esme was holding her face fretfully.

With an apologetic look at Carlisle, I hugged my arms even tighter around his neck as he bolted out the door.


End file.
